Blanco River – Overview on Flooding and Land Stewardship Video by Hill Country Alliance
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Riparian Restoration on Farms and Ranches in Texas’ is now available
Riparian Restoration on Farms and Ranches in Texas’
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has published a new resource for landowners and managers, “Riparian Restoration on Farms and Ranches in Texas.”
The new publication, which has been given the identification number WF-010, can be downloaded for free or purchased at $3 per hard copy through the AgriLife Bookstore, said Blake Alldredge, AgriLife Extension wildlife associate at College Station.
“This publication was developed for landowners in the Blackland Prairie and Post Oak Savannah ecoregions of Central and East Texas seeking information on how to properly manage their riparian areas. It’s important to note though, that many of the principles and practices discussed are applicable to other parts of the state as well,” he said.
The publication describes ways landowners can evaluate the condition of their riparian areas and then recommends techniques for restoring those sites, he said. Some of the techniques include reseeding native grasses and forbs, proper plant species selection, and proper grazing techniques and management along croplands. The basic monitoring methods used to maintain productivity are also explained.
The publication is a collaborative effort of AgriLife Extension’s wildlife and fisheries unit, the Texas Water Resources Institute and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The publication was developed as part of the Building Partnerships for Cooperative Conservation in the Trinity River Basin project managed by the Texas Water Resources Institute and funded by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board through a Clean Water Act grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
See the AgriLife TODAY news release here.
Join the TRA Listserv
Join the Texas Riparian Association Listserv! The Riparian Listserv was created to encourage the exchange of information on riparian issues among the citizens of Texas. You do not need to be a member of TRA to subscribe. Notices about recent riparian research, conferences, training, and activities are posted, along with discussions on riparian related information and issues.
Instructions to Subscribe
Information on how to subscribe to the Riparian Listserv can be found at http://texasriparian.org/about-tra/listserv/, or you can go directly to the page at http://nrt.tamu.edu/courses/texas-riparian/ where you enter your contact information into the form to subscribe.
New study: Forest sector contributes $30.3 billion to Texas economy
The Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) has completed a new study of the economic contribution provided by forestry-driven, wood-based industries in Texas. The report shows that the Texas forest sector continues to be one of the top ten manufacturing sectors in the state and contributed $30.3 billion in industry output, supporting more than 130,600 jobs, in 2012.
TFS periodically produces the report, Economic Impact of the Texas Forest Sector, to give citizens an idea of how the forest sector fits into the Texas economy. The latest report analyzes data collected from 2012, the most current available.
The current report is especially important because it shows where forestry in Texas stands as the economy rebounds from the 2007–09 recession, according to TFS. The recession had a profound adverse impact on the Texas forest sector, and although forest and forest product industries have not fully recovered, there are signs of improvement, TFS officials said.
Dr. Omkar Joshi, TFS forest economist, said that the forest sector is making steady progress, climbing from the lows seen during the recession.
“With the economy improving and the housing market getting better and better, we should continue to see the forest industry’s economic contribution to Texas increase,” he said.
View and download a copy of the full report and visit TexasForestInfo.com for additional information on economic impacts of the Texas forest sector, statewide trend analysis, directory of forest products industries, timber supply analysis, county- or region-specific distribution of forest products and economic values of the ecological goods and services provided by Texas forests.
New Texas Land Trends report shows decline in rural working land acreage
Texas experienced a net loss of nearly 1.1 million acres of privately owned farms, ranches and forests from 1997 to 2012, continuing the trend of rural land conversion and fragmentation in Texas, according to a new Texas Land Trends report released by the Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources (IRNR).
“More than 54 percent of this land conversion was related to development associated with population expansion in the state’s 25 fastest growing counties,” said Dr. Roel Lopez, IRNR’s director and a co-author of the report. “From 1997 to 2012, approximately 590,000 acres were lost from the agricultural land base in these counties.”
Developed by the institute, Texas Land Trends is an interactive website and database that consolidates and analyzes data about property values, land use, land ownership size and population growth in the state.
Primary data sources for Texas Land Trends are the Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Census of Agriculture. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, USDA National Resources Inventory and the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis–Regional Economic Information System is also used. Reports are published every five years, following release of the Census of Agricultural data.
IRNR recently analyzed the 2012 data and published the first in a series of reports based on the new information. Status update and trends of Texas rural working lands is a 5-year trends update on Texas rural working lands. Future reports will examine the status of Texas lands from the perspective of key issues, such as water and energy.
The new data will be incorporated into the interactive website by early 2015.
Lopez said the analysis of the new data showed that privately owned farms, ranches and forests account for 83 percent of the land in Texas and are increasingly threatened by suburbanization, rural development and land fragmentation driven by rapid population growth
“This dramatic loss and fragmentation of privately owned farms, ranches and forests — also known as working lands — is affecting the state’s rural economies,” he said. “The conservation of water and other natural resources is also being affected, as is the nation’s national security and food security.”
The report also highlights the state’s land values. Todd Snelgrove, IRNR’s associate director and a co-author of the report, said in 2012 the average appraised market value of Texas working land was $1,573 per acre, a 36-percent increase since 2007 and a 214-percent increase over the 15-year period. “The largest increases in land values were observed surrounding major metropolitan growth areas,” he said.
Snelgrove said the goal of Texas Land Trends is to provide public and private decision-makers with information needed to plan for the conservation of Texas working lands.
“Texas Land Trends is a critically important data source for policy makers, conservation organizations, state agencies and federal agencies in terms of looking at what is happening to our land base in Texas,” he said.
Blair Fitzsimons, chief operating officer for the Texas Agricultural Land Trust (TALT), agreed.
“Farms, ranches and forests in Texas are undergoing a fundamental change, and Texas Land Trends provides a valuable source of information for anyone in the natural resources community,” she said.
“Through Texas Land Trends, we have been able to raise awareness that ‘Yes, we have a lot of land in Texas,’ but we are losing it at a faster rate than most other states in the country, and that loss is having profound impacts on our agricultural base, our water resources and our native wildlife habitat,” Fitzsimons said.
The new report and a fact sheet are available on the redesigned Texas Land Trends website. As new reports are issued, they will be available online.
Texas Land Trends was developed in cooperation with Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and TALT. It was funded by the Meadows Foundation, Houston Endowment, Mitchell Foundation, Hershey Foundation and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
Video on Trinity River National Water Quality Initiative Program Improving Water Quality
YouTube Video – NRCS helps landowners improve water quality in the Trinity River.
What is a Riparian Area?
Riparian (adjective):
Of, on, or relating to the banks of a natural course of water.
What is a Riparian Area?
Riparian areas, or zones, are an extremely crucial and vital ecosystem, which occur along watercourses or at the edge of water bodies. The common presence and effects of water produce a lusher, generally greener, belt of vegetation, which causes riparian areas to be among the most productive and important of all land types.Due to the presence of a water resource, riparian areas are vigorously sought after by recreationists, domestic livestock, wild big game animals and other wildlife, real estate developers and purchasers, road and utility right-of-ways and irrigators.
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